What are the benefits of new membership features in ASP.NET

The new membership features in ASP.NET 2.0 simplify user management in these ways:
• They automatically create a data store. When you attempt to use membership features, ASP.NET 2.0 checks whether the specified data store is configured. If it is not, ASP.NET creates it.

• They include server controls for creating and validating users and displaying user- specific information and login status. New controls such as the Login, LoginStatus, CreateUserWizard, and ChangePassword controls provide pre-built user-interface building blocks, including functionality for the most common membership-related tasks. These controls are highlighted in the New Web Controls application.
• They provide an application programming interface (API) for programmatically manag- ing users. The Membership API is accessed via the Membership class and includes help- ful methods such as CreateUser, DeleteUser, and ValidateUser.
With ASP.NET 2.0 Membership, you can actually create a Web site with protected pages, automatic redirects to a login page, user creation (registration), and user login without writing any code.